1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for controlling the display of a standard television receiver, either black and white or color. More particularly the present invention concerns a device adapted to be connected to the antenna terminals of a television receiver which is capable of producing a plurality of predetermined displays of particular symbols whose position can be selectively controlled by a player. The present invention relates to various electronic circuitry, including certain logic elements, for generating controllable video signals of a plurality of controllable displays. The present invention also relates to a novel audio output station and manual control for controlling the location on the output tube of the video signals.
2. Prior Art
The basic art to which the present invention relates is both relatively recent and quite voluminous. The commercial utilization of TV games in the mass markets is only a few years old but the diversity of games available and the invention on which they are based is quite astounding.
A brief summary of the more pertinent prior art follows. U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,058 issued in the name of W. T. Rausch shows a game with up to four individual control units and an overlay for the TV screen which can display the necessary paddles and spots for hockey, tennis, ping pong, handball and the like. One or more "spot generators" are utilized which generate "unblanking" signals which when passed through the coincidence gate illuminate spots at the appropriate intersection of the vertical and horizontal signals. The spots are normally a number of horizontal scans. The game circuitry used is horizontal and vertical sync generators, slicers for spot generation, coincidence gates and flip-flops. The player's controls, manipulate manual resistors. The "ball" "puck" or other object is generated in essentially the same manner as the other spots. In essence this game construction uses analog electrical techniques not digital controls.
Another pertinent U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,480 is issued in the name of R. H. Baer. This patent uses techniques similar to those taught in Rausch's patent. Dot generators controlled by potentiometers generate "dot" signals when the horizontal and vertical sync generator signals "intersect." A so-called "crowbar" circuit extinguishes one dot (the target) when its location is coincident with the other (gun) dot. Coincidence is judged by the equal voltage outputs of the dot generators causing the application of a positive signal to the gate of an SCR which extinguishes the first "dot."
U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,161 issued in the name of R. H. Baer teaches a game of the general type shown in previously cited U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,728,480 and 3,778,058 wherein a magnetic tape player which can read into the "game from one or more tape channels to control a spot" generator. The basic game and the spot control are analog and the tape memory is accessable only through a fixed routine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,898 issued in the name of C. Greaf et al shows an analog game of the spot generator type in which there is an automatic "serve" function so that the game need not be reset each time a target marker enters the out-of-bounds region. Target marker position is sensed by voltage level applied to the spot generators. A flip-flop is activated to cause the target market to re-appear and travel in the opposite direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,555 issued in the name of Wallace Kirschner et al shows a TV game control system utilizing a keyboard, a microprocessor, random access memories and read only memories. The TV raster is digitized into 34,650 discrete areas or bars per raster and for each bar there could be a memory or storage position in a random-access-memory. A display address circuit is utilized to read or write into or out of the random-access-memory. The microprocessor operates in conjunction with a read-only-memory and a second random-access-memory. The microprocessor polls the game control keyboard and the calculator keyboard is controlled by a second read-only-memory. In this digital game system very extensive and expensive memory capacity is utilized to display relatively few objects precisely.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,983 issued in the name of G. R. Dash et al illustrates a combined analog and digital technique where passive elements on the TV screen are controlled digitally and active elements on the TV screen are controlled by an analog mapping circuit. The paddles are controlled by potentiometers. The position comparators are formed from analog circuit elements. No significant memory capacity is shown in this patent specification or drawing.
Another patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,990 issued in the name of R. H. Baer which is an improvement on U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,728,480 and 3,778,058 and others. This patent illustrates the utilization of other pre-recorded sources of TV game controls such as video tape or disc either in color or black and white. The output from the pre-recorded source is decoded and applied to the game controller. Other related U.S. patents are: Goldsmith et al No. 2,455,992; Hamada et al No. 3,631,457; Hillberger et al No. 4,020,501; and Bushnell No. 3,793,483. Hamada et al shows dynamic shift registers requiring refreshment used in a display of up to 40 characters per line in an alpha numeric display. Bushnell shows a device for positioning an image on a TV screen utilizing first and second counters.